The Shadow Court

Chapter 6 - We need to talk

Punch, kick, dodge, punch, kick, dodge.

Harley wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. Actually, looking again he realised it was in fact rain. He'd been training in combat with Joel for hours and only now did it register in his head that the sun was gone.

"Crap." He said, craning his neck to see the dark cloud overhead and copping a raindrop in the eye. "Gah! Stupid sky."

Joel dropped his boxing mitts and patted Harley on the shoulder. "Rain does that, genius. Let's head inside."

It registered to Harley that despite the both of them being shirtless and now drenched, he wasn't cold. Must've been the fighting.

The two boys trudged through the mud back inside, receiving disgusted looks from Kira at the back door.

"I swear to god, you two better clean that up." She glared at their muddy footprints on the floorboards. Then, she whipped her head back around and disappeared inside her room. Well, it wasn't exactly her room anymore.

Harley and Joel now shared a room, but since it was Joel's room he got to sleep on the bed, while Harley took a mattress on the floor. The other two rooms were occupied by Thea and Ruby in one and Kira and Briannon the other, and all three were next to each other in one hallway. Harley's room was the middle one, while the sisters had the room closest to the front of the house and Kira and Briannon had the back. Tristan was rarely home at night anyway, so if he ever slept in the house he always took the couch.

Joel slipped his shoes off and ducked into the bathroom before Harley could. "Shotgun first shower."

Harley rolled his eyes and bent down to untie his joggers. They were indeed soaked in mud, so he left them at the back door. Then, he quickly dashed into the bathroom, snatched a towel from the sink and sprinted back out just as Joel saw him.

"Oi!" He shouted, making Harley chuckle quietly.

He towelled himself until he was mostly dry, then sat down on the couch and watched some TV. One of the things that the Rebel League had done in his absence was snag an old television, so that was a bonus. Unfortunately, it only had a couple of channels and nothing was on but news, which depressed him.

"Anything good?" Thea vaulted the back of the couch and landed beside Harley.

"Nope." He said, reading the headline of a current news report. 'Infamous sniper strikes again.'

Thea sighed and fell sideways into Harley's lap, making him flinch. "Ow."

She grinned impishly up at him, and Harley was reminded of just how much the two of them were alike. He remembered their first mission together, when they'd discovered Wills' hidden base deep within the bush out back. She'd proposed that they topple a bonfire and burn the tents down, and Harley immediately saw himself in her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Harley asked, trying not to hit a soft spot.

Thea looked up at him. "About..." Harley sighed and opened his mouth to continue but Thea cut him off. "If you mean about Estella, then I'm fine. I've had my time to grieve, an now I'm only focusing on getting her back." She tapped him on the nose with her fingertip. "What about you?"